MAPS OF HISTORY · ON THIS DAY · MAY 9 · Nivelle Offensive (1917)ON THIS DAY · 9 MAY 1917
Nivelle Offensive
16 Apr-9 May 1917 — Nivelle promises to break through at the Chemin des Dames in 48 hours. Instead, the offensive becomes a bloodbath. Half the French army then refuses further attacks, an episode called “collective indiscipline.” Pétain restores the army with rest and leave; 49 of the 554 death sentences are carried out.
9 MAY 1917 · THE GREAT WAR, 1871–1923 These maps are reconstructed from published sources · Cliopatria v 0.2.1 · National Army Museum: Mesopotamia campaign · Natural Earth physical geography · National Army Museum: Ramadi, September 1917 · Maps of History: Great War geographic decisions · National Army Museum: Salonika campaign · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 15 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 16 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 39 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 41 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 47 · US Military Academy World War I atlas, chart 49
Source details Cliopatria contributors / Seshat Global History Databank. Source polygons retained with original identities; geographic selections and corrections by Maps of History.. CC BY 4.0 National Army Museum; Basra, Kut, Baghdad and late 1917 campaign positions.. Historical evidence citation, no artwork copied Made with Natural Earth; geographic reference and physical land only. No modern political boundary is used as a historical boundary.. Public domain National Army Museum, accession 1965-10-209-49; Ramadi captured 28–29 September 1917.. Historical evidence citation Maps of History. Campaign-sector connectors and contextual regions are identified separately from imported vector outlines.. Original geographic reconstruction using attributed historical evidence National Army Museum: late 1916 Albanian coast–Monastir–Doiran–Struma line and 1918 liberation campaign.. Historical evidence citation; no artwork copied US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 15. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 16. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 39. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 41. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 47. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. US Military Academy, Department of History & War Studies, World War I chart 49. Selected geographic front facts reconstructed independently; no claim of blanket public-domain artwork rights.. Geographic evidence citation; source index requests permission for map reprints. Original artwork is not redistributed. Annual source features can describe claims, legal territory or military control. Occupied extensions are separated from the prewar Central Power homelands, while the original source names and shapes remain available.
The area east/north of the sourced western front is selected within the 1914 historical French, Belgian and Luxembourg footprints. It represents military control, not annexation.
The displayed state is iss 17 fall. Geographic reference dates and reconstruction methods are recorded for each feature.
reconstruction: 1 January 1917 reference for late 1916–1917 · reconstruction: 12 November 1917 Piave withdrawal reference · reconstruction: 1871–1918 · reconstruction: 1917 annual control · reconstruction: 1917.88 · reconstruction: 30 December 1917 · reconstruction: 30 December 1917 northern line reference · reconstruction: Late 1916 allied line · reconstruction: Late 1916 versus 1917 source control · reconstruction: Late 1917 campaign-sector reference · reconstruction: Spring 1917 Hindenburg withdrawal
Layer records and reconstruction methods
The moment in context In Petrograd, the struggle to find food brought people into the streets. Strikes spread, and the garrison soldiers sent to suppress the crowds refused to fire. The Tsar abdicated. Russia now had a new government, but it still faced the war that had helped destroy the old one.
From WWI in 1917, the year of crisis , chapter 10 of The Great War, 1871–1923 (NOV 1917).
The place: Nivelle Offensive — map and full story →
Teach this in 5 minutes Why it happened — Russia’s collapsing authority. By taking personal command of the army in 1915, the Tsar tied his authority to its fortunes. Military failures damaged him directly, while court…The turn — The October Revolution, 7 November 1917. The Bolsheviks seized power in Petrograd on 7 November with relatively little bloodshed. The new government sought peace and agreed an armistice…What it changed — Germany’s opportunity. Russia’s exit released some fifty German divisions for transfer west. Germany thus gained a narrow opportunity to attack before American armies…Then ask the room: Why did Russia’s army dissolve while France’s recovered, despite exhaustion in both? The argued answer is on the chapter page →
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